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‘Obsession’ Executive Producer Sues Producers Over Alleged Breach of Contract and Unpaid Profits

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1–2, 2026 Published 1h ago

Lawsuit Filed Over 'Obsession' Profits

Leonora Ann Darby, an executive producer on the 2025 horror film 'Obsession,' has filed a lawsuit against Tea Shop Productions and producers James Harris and Mark Lane, alleging they breached their 2024 agreement by failing to acknowledge her role and not paying her a fair share of the film's profits.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims that Harris and Lane, co-founders of Tea Shop Productions, "repeatedly breached and violated the 2024 Agreement" they had with Darby. According to the suit, Darby was not paid her fair share of profits even after the film—made on a reported budget of $750,000—became a box-office hit, grossing over $500 million worldwide, with a specific figure of $505.7 million reported by one source.

Darby's Alleged Contributions

Darby contends that her contributions were critical to the film's success. She claims that director Curry Barker had lost control of the editing process, but she was able to get it back into his hands, preventing a disastrous outcome. Darby also says she secured approval for several reshoots that addressed problems with the film's content.

According to the lawsuit, Darby was instrumental in making plot changes that led to the film's success. The suit details her notes on the opening relationship between the lead male and female characters, the character arcs in the first two acts, and her strong recommendation—which was adopted—to fully commit to the film's supernatural elements, including making the One Wish Willow a real element that functioned as intended in the real world of the film, with the iconic 'money scene' confirming this. Darby says her leadership helped the film wrap in time for the Toronto International Film Festival, where Focus Features purchased it for $16.2 million.

Allegations of Mistreatment

Darby claims that Harris and Lane treated her as a subordinate rather than an equal, failing to honor their promises and not inviting her to the Los Angeles premiere. She says they iced her out of her share of the profits and all public recognition for her work.

Legal Claims and Attorney's Response

Darby is seeking compensatory damages for breach of contract, unpaid project bonuses, and a third of net profits, as well as other damages. Her attorney, Thomas K. Richards, stated, "Ms. Darby has brought serious and substantial claims, supported by a detailed factual record. She is confident in her case and intends to pursue it fully."

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

TMZ

Framing: neutral, legalistic

as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Darby says Harris and Lane 'repeatedly breached and violated the 2024 Agreement' they had with her.
Darby is asking for compensatory damages for breach of contract, unpaid project bonuses and a third of net profits, as well as other damages.
The movie became a box office success.

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Vulture

Framing: The headline, where present, would emphasize the core subject, but it is not captured here. — Supportive or confident, based on the quoted attorney's language.

as of Sep 2, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Darby’s attorney is Thomas K.
Richards (lawyer's surname)
"Ms. Darby has brought serious and substantial claims, supported by a detailed factual record."
"She is confident in her case and intends to pursue it fully."

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimLeonora Ann Darby filed a lawsuit against Tea Shop Productions and producers James Harris and Mark Lane for allegedly breaching their 2024 agreement by failing to acknowledge her role in the film 'Obsession' and not paying her fair share of profits.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via TMZ as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC, Vulture as of Sep 2, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimThe film 'Obsession' grossed over $500 million at the box office.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Vulture as of Sep 2, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC, TMZ as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC
ClaimThe film 'Obsession' grossed $505.7 million globally.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Vulture as of Sep 2, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimDarby is seeking compensatory damages for breach of contract, unpaid project bonuses, and a third of net profits.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TMZ as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC
ClaimDarby claims she helped plan key reshoots and ensured director Curry Barker was the film's final editor.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Vulture as of Sep 2, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC, TMZ as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC
ClaimDarby's attorney, Thomas K. Richards, stated, "Ms. Darby has brought serious and substantial claims, supported by a detailed factual record. She is confident in her case and intends to pursue it fully."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Vulture as of Sep 2, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC
ClaimDarby says her contributions were critical to the film's success, including getting approval for reshoots and ensuring the movie was finished in time for the Toronto International Film Festival, where Focus Features purchased it for $16.2 million.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TMZ as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC
ClaimDarby claims that Harris and Lane treated her as a subordinate and did not invite her to the Los Angeles premiere.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Vulture as of Sep 2, 2026, 1:16 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: TMZ, Vulture 8 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-02